almond nut butter....

[kellibelli]

I was looking on line last night and I am trying to replace standard SAD peanut butter with RAW almond butter, but it seems a normal size jar of almond nut butter is SO EXPENSIVE!!! Is there any way to get around this??? Who can afford that?

[sungoddess]

I know, and the worst is when I buy such an expensive raw jar, and then I eat it all in... 2 or 3 days or something. Not good....however, the taste of raw almond butter is so delicious that if you can ration it out, it can be a worthwhile purchase.

Another option would be to make your own by soaking and grinding in a vitamix... I have never personally done this but I think it would be delicious!

[kellibelli]

I am currently saving up for a Vitamix...may be a while! I guess for the time being I will get the almond butter. I am slowly transitioning my kids to raw and they love PB sandwiches...now I have to find a substitute for the bread!

[Rawspberry]

I know, I haven't bought it in a while cause the price just keeps going up. Now it is $16-20 a jar of organic raw almond butter. Buying the nuts themselves doesn't help uch cause they are exp. too at $16 a lb. It's just an exp. nut.

It doesn't help when a recipe calls for 2-3 cups of these nuts or a cup of almond butter. That's a whole jar and is just one ingredient. Ends up being $40-50 recipes. Makes me just want to eat some fruit instead.

[Goldenrod]

I rarely buy almond butter and when I do, it's usually on sale and even then I take the sticker off, so my husband won't see it and drop dead of a heart attack. :D I have found that for a lot of things, I can substitute raw tahini which is noticeably easier on the budget.

[Spectatrix]

I primarily use almond butter for almond milk, so I don't go through it too quickly. I buy conventional rather than organic, though.

[sungoddess]

aren't most store bought "raw" nut butters highly heated in the grinding process? I hardly ever buy nut butters because real "live" ones are so hard to find

[alex]

I would like to know what the difference is in the stuff you buy and the stuff you make.

On the label it just says: raw almonds as the only ingredient.

I've made my own and just used raw almonds and a little water and it didn't taste or look anything like the expensive one that you buy in jars. I have to admit that the commercial one tasted much better than the one I made???

Anyone have any thoughts on this??


alex

[sungoddess]

unless they are trully making raw almond butter for the raw lifestyle, then they are "cooking" the almonds through the high-heat grinding process. They also probably don't use water.... I agree though. Even if I didn't use water, i feel like it tastes very different.

[lily]

You can make your own almond butter if you have a good strong blender like a Vitamix, or a strong food processor.

I make mine in the food processor. The trick it to put in all the amonds -- dry, unsoaked -- and only process them for about 5 minutes at a time, just until the machine begins to feel warm. Then stop, let it cool down for an hour or so, and process again, and again, until it turns to butter.

So it takes several hours, but during this time, each time you process, you'll notice it changes, until you really have got lovely, runny almond butter, with a gorgeous taste, for less than the cost of the bought stuff.

It goes just as quickly, though, in my experience...

lily

[rawnora]

You can make your own almond butter if you have a good strong blender like a Vitamix, or a strong food processor.

I make mine in the food processor. The trick it to put in all the amonds -- dry, unsoaked -- and only process them for about 5 minutes at a time, just until the machine begins to feel warm. Then stop, let it cool down for an hour or so, and process again, and again, until it turns to butter.

So it takes several hours, but during this time, each time you process, you'll notice it changes, until you really have got lovely, runny almond butter, with a gorgeous taste, for less than the cost of the bought stuff.

lily

Interesting, Lily. Thanks for sharing that. I tried many times to make my own almond butter using both my Champion juicer and my Ktec blender but it never looked or tasted like the store bought stuff. I did find that I could easily make cashew butter in my Champion, though. The other option is to find a store with a grinder. This is cheaper and fresher.

Btw, for almond milk it's not necessary to use almond butter. It's much more economical to just use whole raw almonds, process a little longer and strain through a cheesecloth "nut bag" (purchasable at most natural food stores).

Nora
www.RawSchool.com